Regardless of the secondary, no continuity to plug cap from terminal on secondary is not good. That should read near zero on the lowest scale because it is usually a metal wire. On the 20k scale reading 2.54 should be about right. The way to get better electrically is to do what yer doin': asking questions and experimenting, that is trying to find what works and what does not. Wish I could draw a picture on here!
The spark coil primary is fairly heavy wire with a few turns = low resistance = low scale on meter for resistance. Secondary is very fine wire with lotsa turns = high resistance = high resistance scale on meter. No connection electrically to each other. One end of secondary is grounded, other end is plug wire and cap.
